Here's the story as I remember it being told to me by my grandmother:
Both of my mother's parents, my grandparents, were Canadian. Their first child, my Uncle George was born in the US. When my grandmother was pregnant with my mother, Grandma's parents told her to come and stay with them in Canada. George was still a baby and not even walking, so they knew that my grandmother would need help.
My mother, Ruth, was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada exactly eleven months after George. He was born May 21, 1925 and she was born April 21, 1926.
Since my grandparents were Canadian and my mom was born in Canada, my mom was automatically a Canadian citizen. George was born in the US and was an American citizen.
This is a picture of my mom, Ruth- with the ball, and George with the bowl haircut.
I always knew that my mother was a naturalized American citizen- naturalized when she was 18. Of all of my grandparent's children, my mom was the only one who was not born American.
Or so I thought. As an adult, I accidentally learned about another baby who had died as an infant. I was looking in the family bible that was in my grandmother's bedroom. It was on a stand so you could read it standing up. I was startled to see the name "Kenneth". And a birth and death date.
I must have asked my grandmother about this because she told me about the baby who had died of pneumonia. She said that she and my grandfather sat in the back seat of the undertaker's car with a small, white coffin. Only recently have I found where he is buried- in Detroit.
Genealogy searching on Ancestry.com indicates that Kenneth (his real first name was Thomas) was born in Canada also. I never knew that.
I found his burial sight by looking at https://www.findagrave.com.
Photo added by Margarite McLeod
Thomas Kenneth Rivers
- Birth
-
Madoc, Peel Regional Municipality, Ontario, Canada
- Death
- 11 Dec 1927 (aged 4 months)
Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, USA
- Burial
-
Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, USA
What all of this is about is citizenship. Ever since the current administration (Trump presidency) I have wondered if I could gain Canadian citizenship through of my mother.
After doing a lot of searching and obtaining a copy of my mother's birth certificate from Manitoba's department of Vital Statistics.
After doing a lot of browsing through Canada's immigration and citizenship websites, it appears that I might already be a Canadian citizen. My sister as well!
I am sending in an "Applications for Citizenship Certificate"
I am doing the paperwork. I doubt that I will use it to "escape" from America. But it is nice to learn that I have options!
